New Beginnings
by Lou1983
Summary: A fiction based on the fire fighting drama Steel River Blues. The story begins from the end of the first series.


New Beginnings

All original characters owned by ITV except new ones which are my own.

Characters

Station Officer Bill McGlinchy

Sub Officer Alan Priestley

Leading Fire Fighter Tony Barnes

Fire Fighter Dave Tanner

Fire Fighter Nicky Higgins

Fire Fighter Jeremy Lloyd

Fire Fighter Roger Hibbot

Fire Fighter Sunil Gupta

Fire Fighter Andy Coulson

Fire Fighter Stuart Milton

Fire Fighter Julie Priestley

Fire Fighter Asif Hussain

Katy Bell - Control Room

Sandra Harris - Control Room

Julie stared out of the steamed up window of the pump she was riding on, the tears rolled down her pale cheeks, it mirrored the rain had been falling since they took George away in the ambulance.

The only sound onboard the appliance was the low rumble of the engine and the sound of sobbing coming from where Julie was sitting.

Pulling up to the station the first appliance pulled into the garage a door opened and a tall figure got down from the cab. Behind him the rest of the crew jumped down and quietly went about there business of cleaning the equipment and the pumps.

"I'll be back in a minuet" Julie called to the others.

She wiped the tears from her face. Slowly she headed up the stairs to the dorm.

Julie dropped down onto her bed and sunk her head into her hands.

A piece of paper fluttered down onto the floor in front of her she leaned over and picked it up. Through the tears in her eyes she read what was written on it 'Pay Julie Priestly the sum of Five Hundred and Forty Pounds' it was a cheque that George had left to replace her stolen mountain bike.

She could no longer hold back the tears

"Why" she cried out punching at the locker that was standing next to the bed.

Outside the window the rain was still poring out the sky, the low clouds that hung above the station made the office that Bill was sitting in look dull and grey.

The silence was broken by the sound of the telephone ringing.

"Station Officer McGlinchy's office" Bill answered.

Over the phone came a voice that Bill recognised. It was Mick Hammond

Before Mick had spoken Bill knew that it was bad news.

"Hello Bill, I m afraid I've had some bad news..."

Bill dropped back into his chair.

"I'm very sorry but George didn't make it. He died on the way to hospital."

"Poor Tony, he must be devastated. I will make sure the crew know. Thank you." Bill stuttered.

He put down the phone, and went back to the window.

In the mess everyone sat in stunned silence after the news of George's death.

A few days later the funeral was held for George.

A knock at the door woke Tony, who was trying to get a bit of sleep.

"Hang on a minuet" Tony called.

He made his way towards the door.

"Hi Bill, come in" Tony beckoned him out of the rain.

"Sorry did I wake you" asked Bill in a concerned voice

"No don't worry I only manage a couple of hours of kip. I haven't been sleeping very well. Every time I go to sleep I see George with a rope around his neck I run to stop him falling and then I wake up."

"How are you coping?" asked Bill

"Not so good… George wasn't just a brother he was a friend and a colleague I never realised how much I loved being with him" sobbed Tony.

"Take as much time off as you need, Nicky will cover your shifts for now. We've all taken it pretty badly, Julie's really finding it hard to cope she is seeing a counsellor, you might want to have a chat too?" replied Bill

"Thanks, tell everyone I'm thinking of them" said Tony.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Inside the station there was a buzz of energy as they waited for the new member of Blue watch to arrive.

Bill looked out across the yard "Our new recruit is here."

A tall, dark haired man got out of a silver Ford Focus. He walked over to the appliance bay.

Under one arm was his neatly folded uniform, over his shoulder was a red sports bag. He strolled towards where the crew were gathered.

"Fire Fighter Stuart Milton reporting for duty" he put out his hand.

"Glad you got here ok, come in" smiled Bill.

"I would like you to meet Stuart Milton he has come up from the Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service."

"Nice to meet you" said Stuart looking around at the smiling faces.

Bill walked along Stuart introducing him to the crew who were lined up alongside one of the appliances.

"It's nice to be here, everyone has been very kind to me, and my landlady in the flat I'm renting told me of all the places to go… and not to go." he chuckled

The crew laughed back.

Bill read out the crews for the shift.

"The riders on the pumps are as follows Alpha 1 Myself, Fire Fighter Alan Priestley, Fire Fighter Tanner driving, Fire Fighter Higgins and Fire Fighter Lloyd ; Alpha 2 Fire Fighter Hibbot, Fire Fighter Gupta driving, Fire Fighter Coulson , Fire Fighter Milton and Fire Fighter Julie Priestley. Fire Fighter Hussain will be driving Alpha 4"

"Blue Watch chun."

Alan boomed in a loud voice.

"Fall out"

The watch turned and went about checking the equipment.

"Julie will show you to your locker where you can put all your stuff." called Bill

Julie smiled "Better follow me then, it's this way" she winked at Stuart

Later on in the day Tony arrived at the station.

"Hi Tony, how are you?"

"Much better thanks" replied Tony

Bill leant forward.

"Whenever you feel ready to come back you just have to let us know"

"Cheers Bill"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Up in the mess the crew were just sitting down to one of Andy's home made Shepard's pie when the bells went down.

Stuart rushed out of the mess and down the stairs, grabbed his jacket and helmet and jumps into the cab of Alpha 2.

Roger was already in the cab.

Stuart looked at Andy

"How did Roger get here so quickly I didn't see him at dinner?"

"It's a mystery" stuttered Andy.

"We all wish we could disappear when Andy is cooking, but it's better than nothing!" joked Sunil.

"It wasn't that bad." Stuart called from the back of the cab.

"Thank you, at least someone likes it." laughed Andy.

The 2 appliances raced off to a fire at a two story house.

After the incident Julie and Stuart were damping down the area.

"So are you up here all alone then" asked Julie.

"What you really mean is do I have a girlfriend. No I don't but I am looking. What about you?" laughed Stuart.

Julie went red in the face

"Oh you know, just enjoying the single life…" she said

"But that doesn't mean I'm not looking." she said coolly.

Alan walked up behind them.

"I think we can get going soon, pack the stuff away and we will see you back at the station Julie"

"Right dad" Julie called back

"So Alan is your dad." enquired Stuart

"Yeah he's pretty cool about me being in the fire service." replied Julie

They packed the rest of the gear away and headed back to the station.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Later on in the dorm Stuart and Julie were chatting.

"I was working in the control room before I became a fire fighter" Julie explained.

"I will have to take you to see Katy and Sandra they would love to meet you, if you know what I mean." chuckled Julie

"Is that where George used to work" asked Stuart.

Julie turned away.

"I'm sorry, Bill told me what happened before I arrived it must have been hard for you guys."

"Why did you leave your brigade?" asked Julie quickly changing the subject.

"I wanted to start over again, I had a bad experience several years ago." Stuart went to sit on the end of Julie's bed.

"There was a family that were trapped in a pile up on the motorway. We managed to get the mother, father and 2 of the children out. But the other little girl we couldn't save. It turns out she wasn't wearing a seat belt. I sat with her for several hours why they tried to free her. We got her out but she died as I carried her to the ambulance. After that I couldn't go anywhere without thinking about what happened. My ex was desperate to have children but I just couldn't face it. In the end we split up and I decided to move as far away as I could." Stuart looked at Julie, he started to sob.

"I know what you are going to say, running away won't help, but at least I can try to put it behind me." sniffed Stuart

"We all have story's we wish we never happened, but that comes with the job. My dad never brought them home when I was a kid he tried to shelter me from the horrific things he'd seen. But now I am seeing them for myself, its hard but we get through it. We have a counsellor that you can chat with if that helps." Julie handed him a tissue.

He looked up and smiled

"Thanks. Its nice to talk to someone who understands"

"Come on lets get something to eat before that lot of gannets have it all, and then I can take you on a tour." said Julie.

Which made Stuart laugh.

Julie went up to the control room after dinner.

Sandra and Katy were doing each others hair.

"Hi what's up"

Katy popped her head up from behind the computer screen.

"Just came in for a chat" replied Julie

Sandra looked at Katy.

"Oh you know what that means, guy troubles!"

Sandra was taking the curlers out of her hair

"You could get the sack for that, if Hammond comes in now he'll go mental" laughed Julie

"They can't sack the 2 best Control Room Operators" replied Sandra.

"Hey have you seen that dishy new fire fighter that's just joined? Bill was showing him around earlier on. He's hot! "

"Yeah he seems really nice" said Julie

"I didn't think your dad wanted you to go out with a fireman?"

"I just said he was nice it doesn't mean I want to get in bed with him Sandra"

As they were chatting a call came in over the radio.

"Reports of a 5 car pile up on the outskirts of Middlesbrough"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"It's a busy first day for you Stuart" shouted Jeremy as he dashed for the pole drop.

The crew rushed to get there gear as the bell went down.

"Pile up, multiple casualties on the A66 just outside Middlesbrough. Fire reported. Alpha 1, Alpha 2 and Alpha 4" Bill called to Dave, Asif and Sunil as he ripped the paper of the printer.

They jumped into the appliances, the front doors rolled open and they pulled away from the station.

Cars stop and Lorries pulled to one side as the appliances hurried through the busy rush hour traffic.

As they arrive at the scene they could see 4 of the cars, getting closer they could see the 5th car has been crushed under one of the others.

There is a heavy smell of oil and petrol in the air and one of the vehicles was already well ablaze.

The crew jump out of the appliances, behind them Bill called out instructions

"Jeremy, Julie get the cutting gear. Stuart and Roger check for casualties"

Stuart was standing frozen staring at the cars. Suddenly he was taken back to the day he had to look after the little girl, he could hear the screams of the girls mother and the smell of the petrol

"Stuart did you hear me, check for casualties" Bill called again.

"Yes Boss" he shook himself out of the nightmare.

"Dave, Andy, Asif and Nicky get the hoses" called Bill "Alan call for back up"

Stuart ran over to the first car a man in his late 60's was slumped to one side, a pool of blood had formed down by his feet. Leaning across through the broken window, Stuart checked the guys pulse, he was dead.

At the side of the road the crew were tackling the burning car which had ploughed into the barrier.

The flames were threatening to ignite the petrol tank.

Dave and Andy moved along the vehicle dowsing the flames with water.

Suddenly a patch of petrol leaking from the tank burst into flames.

"Get back" screamed Nicky as the flames spread along the ground and under the car.

They all dived to the ground as the petrol tank exploded. A fire ball engulfed the car and everything around it.

"Fire Fighter Higgins. Is everyone ok?" Bill called over the radio.

She looked around her.

"Yeah, fine" Nicky coughed.

Behind her Andy and Dave were helping each other off the ground.

On the other side of the road Roger and Stuart found a casualty in one of the cars.

"Bill get the paramedics we've got one" Roger shouted over the hum of the appliances that were pumping out water and the sound of the cutting gear crunching through the twisted metal.

A young man about twenty five years old the same age as Stuart was trapped in the front seat, Stuart leaned over into the car he could see the guys legs were trapped by a piece of metal the used to be at the front of the car. The driver was already dead.

"Please Help, I can't move" he screamed out.

"Julie, Jeremy bring the cutters here" shouted Stuart

"Dad"

They heard another voice coming from the vehicle that had gone into the back of the one they were working on.

Roger looked at Stuart "You stay hear, I've got to go"

Stuart turned back to where the young man was trapped.

"Alright mate we'll have you out soon, what's your name?" he asked the passenger.

"It's Joe"

"Don't worry Joe we will have you out soon, I promise" Stuart passed his hand through the window, holding Joe's hand as Julie and Jeremy started to cut away at the pillars of the car.

They were joined by several other crew members from a different station.

Carefully they started to lift the roof from the car.

"I've got another casualty" shouted Roger from behind the other car.

Stuart radioed Bill.

"Bill you've gotta hurry he's loosing a lot of blood and Rogers found someone."

They managed to get the roof off, the paramedics rushed over.

Slowly they put Joe on a spinal Board and lifted him free from the car.

As they took Joe away he called out to Stuart

"Thanks mate"

Roger prised the door open on the other car to free the other passengers.

Walking back to the appliance Bill patted Stuart on the back

"You did well, not bad for you first day. It must have been hard for you to come back to this. I think you are going to fit in here."

"Thanks" sighed Stuart.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Blue Watch were all enjoying a cup of tea when the phone rang in the mess.

"Stuart it's for you" called Dave

"Hi, its Joe. I just wanted to say thanks. The doctors told me I was very lucky if I had lost any more blood I could have died. I really appreciate all your help"

"Cheers, that's what we're here for" replied Stuart.

He smiled at Julie.

As he put the phone down Tony walked into the mess.

"Hi Tony" he was greeted by the crew.

He sat down, Andy poured another cup of tea and passed it across the table.

"Cheer Andy. I've got some news…I'm going to be coming back."

"That's great" replied Alan

"We're looking forward to you being back on the run." smiled Julie.


End file.
